Post 166 takes series opener

Goose Creek Post 166 coach Aaron Preston said the playoff opener wasn't the team's best game or its worst.

Goose Creek simply did enough and got plenty of help from Georgetown in an 11-9 victory on Monday at GCHS.

Post 166 scored six runs on a slew of walks and just one hit in the bottom of the first inning to build a sizable lead and held on to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.

"We only had eight hits," Preston said. "The majority of our runs came on all those walks and they had that one (drop). We need to swing the bat a little bit better and play even better defense (the rest of the series)."

Game 2 is set for Georgetown Tuesday night along with Game 4 on Thursday if necessary, while Goose Creek will host Game 3 on Wednesday and possibly Game 5.

Chris Zurcher, Davon Higgins and Bryce Singletary had two hits each for Post 166 (8-4).

Tyler Rio tossed five-plus innings to earn the win on the mound for Goose Creek. He gave up four earned runs. He also scored three runs.

Bryce Singletary finished it out for the save. Rio and Singletary combined to fan nine Georgetown hitters.

Ethan Wright took the loss for Georgetown, walking seven batters and recording just one out before reliever Kevin Kies entered. Wright allowed six earned runs.

Kies pitched until Tyler Bratcher took over in the bottom of the eighth. Kies allowed two earned runs over his six-plus innings of relief.

Higgins' RBI rope to left field off Kies was the only hit in Post 166's first-inning production. Zurcher's RBI double in the second gave Post 166 a 7-1 lead.

A shaky play by Georgetown centerfielder MA Nash in the bottom of the fifth enabled Goose Creek to further pad its cushion.

After Post 166 pushed its lead to 8-5 on an infield single by Rio, it later loaded the bases with two outs.

Nash dropped a line drive that would have been the final out, allowing the first two runners to score since they were already on the move anyway, and then threw the ball away to third base, enabling the other runner to cross the plate. The three unearned runs ended up being the difference in the game.

"That's the way the cookie crumbles," Georgetown coach Jason West said. "Some times you have nights like that."
West's team continued to battle down the stretch, though.

A two-run single by Seth Wall in the sixth cut Post 166's advantage to 11-7, chasing Rio, and Riley Jordan made it 11-8 with a solo shot in the eighth. Daniel Jones added an RBI double with two outs in the ninth.

Wall, Ryan Holcombe, Justin Colgrove and Jordan Cantley each had two hits to power Georgetown at the plate.

Cody Thompson is set to take the mound in Game 2 for Georgetown while Michael Cedotal is projected to start for Goose Creek.

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